Drastic Measures
by John Riehle
Summary: When Kim learns of Ron's deepest fear, she's going to have to resort to drastic measures to help him through it.


Author's Note: Sometimes, it's the simplest gestures that have the biggest meaning.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kim Possible tried to restrain her shock, though it was obvious from the look of her audience that she had failed miserably. She sat in her loft bedroom with her boyfriend and best friend, Ron Stoppable.

The two had recently been through a very terrible and troubling ordeal. Their worst nightmare, Zorpox, the manifestation of everything horrible and rotten within Ron's inner mind, had returned. Though he had eventually been defeated, he had exposed some old wounds between Kim and Ron within their relationship. Following his defeat, the couple had decided to try and mend those wounds together, one at a time.

This newest one, hidden for so long, seemed to be the worst of them all.

"You think I'd leave you?" Kim asked again in hurt shock. Her reaction must have been all too evident as hurt was mirrored in Ron's expression even while he sat at her desk chair.

"Well…" Ron tried to choose his words very carefully, guilt evident in his voice "it's not like I think you're planning it or anything…"

"Is that what you really think?" Kim asked again. She could feel her eyes beginning to burn and her vision blur, but she held it in. "That I would ever leave you?"

"No." Ron admitted honestly. "But the thought still scares me."

Kim bit to hold her lip from quivering. A million different questions jostled and struggled to voice themselves, but in the end, only one came out. "Why?"

Ron forced down the choke in his lungs as he answered. "KP… when you were with… Eric," Ron paused, knowing the delicacy of the subject matter as he spoke "it was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through. The thought of losing you, of you not needing me as your best friend anymore, it was the worst part of my life."

Ron tried to hold his own quaking hands, once again carefully choosing his words.

"The whole time, I couldn't think of anything else but telling you how I felt about you, and how much it would end up ruining what was left of our friendship if I did. The thought of being alone… not having you in my life anymore… I didn't know what I would do."

"Ron," Kim fought with all her strength of will to keep her voice steady "do you really think I could ever not have you in my life anymore? That I could really go on without my best friend, even if you weren't my boyfriend?"

"I don't know. I guess it's kinda the reason why I never told you earlier." Ron steadied his gaze at the floor. He felt unworthy of looking at her, basking in her beauty. "You've got it all KP. You're smart, beautiful, and popular and all I could ever think of whenever I wanted to tell you was 'what do I got that she could possibly want?'"

Kim felt her heart nearly leap into her throat. It took everything she had to steady it back down.

"And then, I got the chance to tell you, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me." Ron's voice rose, but only slightly "but I never forgot what it was like, watching you and Eric. I just kept thinking; what if that happened again and some other pretty boy showed up? What if I was just a rebound?"

Even as the words burned their way out of Ron's lips, they stabbed Kim right in the heart.

Ron didn't need to look at her to know her reaction. "I know that's a terrible thing to even think. And it's so stupid. That's why I never even mentioned it KP, cause I know how stupid it sounds. And it is stupid. But I can't help it. It still scares me. You are the best thing in my life Kim, you always have been. And I don't want to own you. But the thought of life without you… it's so stupid." He muttered to himself.

"It's not stupid Ron." Kim's voice came out as a whisper, even as she slowly moved up from her bed, moving over and kneeling in front of him, taking his hands as she brought her face in front of his line of sight. "It's not stupid because this really bothers you and that's why we're talking about it."

"I… I don't even know what to say." Ron admitted helplessly, trapped by her perfect eyes. "I can't even begin to tell you why it still scares me. You've been absolutely amazing KP. I love you so much, and I don't want to be one of those paranoid boyfriends who suffocates their girlfriends by jelling all the time. But I can't help it. I don't want to lose you."

Ron let out a final breath of relief at his last statement. That was it. In a nutshell, his whole problem, his fears and concerns, all wrapped up in one, simple sentence. As a man, admitting it would absolutely destroy what little creditability to his masculinity he had left, but it felt good to just get that out.

Of course now, they were left with the obvious problem of dealing with it.

Kim brought her right hand to his cheeks, her smooth skin feeling so blissful against his.

"I know Ron. I know because I feel the same way about you."

"KP…" Ron whispered as he took her hand in his own.

"Tell me what to do. I don't care what it is. Just tell me how I can prove to you how much you mean to me. Whatever it is, I promise…"

"Kim, you don't have to do anything. It's my problem. I just need to learn to deal." He admitted, even as his hand began to run down her arm.

"No Ron. This isn't just your problem." Kim's finger gently wiped away a salty droplet from beneath Ron's right eye. "I'm your best friend and your girlfriend. That makes this my problem too."

"Just tolerate me." Ron was a thin hair of strength away from pleading. "I know I'll get over it. Just, please, put up with me until then."

"No." Kim felt her own vision began to blur as she spoke. Already, her mind was beginning to think. Electrical impulses were firing and synapses were sparking as Kim Possible's mind went to work. "I'm not going to wait. I'm not going to just turn my back on you and wait for you to get better."

"Kim…" Ron wanted to plead again, but Kim merely silenced him with a finger over his lips as she rose, moving away from the chair where he sat to her night stand. Moving with unchallengeable purpose and determination, Kim reached for her Pandaroo, taking it in her arms, and clutching it tightly for a long moment before bringing it back and holding it out to Ron.

"Your Pandaroo?" Ron asked as he took the stuffed Cuddle Buddy in confusion.

"No Ron. It's your Pandaroo now." Kim explained.

Ron's eyes went wide immediately, his mouth dropping in shock as he tried to force the stuffed animal back to her. "KP, I can't take this."

"You're not taking it." Kim knelt back down before him even as her hands wrapped around his wrists, pushing them and the outstretched Pandaroo back to his chest. "I'm giving it to you."

"I can't. I know what this means to you." He argued insistently.

"Exactly. You know how much Pandaroo means to me. Now, since you know me so well, I want you to answer me honestly. Would I ever give this away to just any pretty boy?"

"No way." Ron answered without thought. Try as he might, he could never imagine Kim parting with her Pandaroo for anyone. Not Josh Mankey, not Eric. No one.

"That's right. If any pretty boy even tried to lay their hands on it, I'd have to clobber him." Kim let out a wry smile. "But I would give it to my best friend and boyfriend, who makes me laugh no matter how crummy my day's been, and is always ready to drop everything he's doing if I need him."

"KP…" Ron wasn't even aware of the fact that his hands had begun to tightly clutch at the Pandaroo as Kim spoke.

"I want you to have it Ron. So that the next time we have to say good bye to each other, even for just a few minutes, you have something, some part of me, to keep with you at all times. So that you know, I'm not in this until the next pretty boy comes along. I'm in this all the way."

Kim paused a moment before going on. "I love you Ron. You're the best thing in my life, and you always have been."

Ron still couldn't say anything, even as he clutched at the stuffed Cuddle Buddy. He just stared at her, his mouth still wide as he finally brought himself to ask "has anyone ever told you that you are the most amazing GF in the whole world?"

"Just my boyfriend… every day that I see him anyway. And even a few when I don't." Kim smiled.

Ron couldn't hold back any longer as he brought his lips to hers. After all their time together, the soft feel of her lips held every bit as much power over him as they did the first time he felt them.

"I… still want… to hold him… whenever I come… over." Kim spoke between kisses even as she brought her hands up to his hair.

"Night and day." Ron uttered back as his left hand moved to the side of her face, taking her soft skin in his delicate touch. "Whenever you want."

Kim and Ron continued to remain like this for several minutes. Or several hours. They were never really sure as the sun had set by the time their lips finally parted.

The End

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Do me a favor reader, don't be afraid to tell someone what they mean to you.


End file.
